Self-taught engineer brings hydroelectric power to Rwanda village

[NewsCaster]

Dai Kurokawa / EPAAnastase Tabaro, a self-taught engineer, walks by a stream near his hydroelectricity generating station in Rutare, Rwanda. Dai Kurokawa / EPAAnastase Tabaro at a friend's home in Rutare, 45km north of the capital Kigali.The European Pressphoto Agency reports — Anastase Tabaro, a self-taught engineer who had just six years of elementary-level education as a child, has built a hydroelectric system that provides power to some 700 households in and around his village in rural Rwanda.

The 59-year-old started his research in 1990 with the ultimate ambition of selling power to his neighbors, none of whom had access to electricity at that time. He built a turbine and constructed a barrage dam that he channels water from to power a generator.

"I grew up in [neighboring] Democratic Republic of Congo and my village had electricity," Tabaro says. "Then my family moved to Rwanda and our village had no electricity. I felt I couldn't live without electricity so I started to research by myself."Dai Kurokawa / EPATabaro sets up a television to play a DVD at his friend's home.

NBCNews

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[Nifemi Donald]

that's a great development for Rwanda.kudos to the engineer

[Nifemi Donald]